LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky football team would have been forgiven for a dispirited effort following the death of offensive line coach John Schlarman. But its players took the field with heavy hearts Saturday and overcame Vanderbilt for a 38-35 victory.
The Cats snapped a two-game losing streak and picked up their first win since they won at Tennessee on Oct. 17. They were off last weekend following losses at Missouri and to Georgia at home.
UK jumped out to a 14-0 lead but the 17-point underdogs made a game of it thanks to their third-down efficiency (11 of 17) and ability to protect the ball; they'd committed at least two turnovers in each of their previous five games, including five in their last trip out but didn't cough it up once in Lexington.
Chris Rodriguez rushed for a career-high 149 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries, an average of 11.5 yards per rush. Kentucky as a team finished averaging 9.7 yards per carry against the Commodores, and amassed 302 overall on the ground.
Terry Wilson finished 13 of 15 for 110 yards and two touchdown passes; his completion percentage of 86.6 matched the second highest in a single game in UK history (minimum 15 attempts). He also rushed for 83 yards and a TD on seven carries.
Kentucky improved to 3-4 with a trip to Alabama scheduled for next weekend.
After drawing a planned delay-of-game penalty to pay tribute to Schlarman, Kentucky marched 75 yards in a hurry to take a 7-0 lead. A.J. Rose rushed for gains of 11 and 15 yards to sandwich a 7-yard completion from Wilson to Josh Ali. Wilson hit DeMarcus Harris for another 7-yarder, then rushed for 10 yards over the Cats' next to two plays. Rodriguez picked up 10 yards himself on the subsequent plays before Wilson hit Justin Rigg for a 15-yard score, the first TD reception of his career.
A fair catch at its own 1-yard line put Vanderbilt in a bind on its first drive. The Commodores moved to their 22 but couldn't get any further. Kentucky received a punt at its 32 and needed only seven plays to score again. A replay review was its biggest challenge on the drive; it resulted in successful fourth-down pickup by Rodriguez. Allen Dailey drew a pass-interference flag on the next play and then Wilson rushed 32 yards for his fourth TD of the season.
Vandy got something going its next time out. Keyon Henry-Brooks chewed up the bulk of yardage on the drive before drawing a face-mask penalty to put the Commodores at UK's 34; Ken Seals threw a 34-yard TD pass on its next play to get Vandy on the board, 14-7, early in the second quarter. Kentucky's response was swift; it again needed only seven plays to score, a 21-yard pass from Wilson to Keaton Upshaw, putting it up 21-7.
A pair of lengthy third-down pass conversions — an 11-yarder and a 20-yard pickup — on throws by Seals set Vanderbilt up for its second TD, a fourth-and-2 toss from Mike Wright, another Vandy quarterback, to Ben Bresnahan.
Kentucky didn't make it easy, but it extended its lead right before halftime. A 10-play, 45-yard drive in reality covered about 70 yards after the Wildcats were pushed back to where it began on consecutive penalties (a chop block foul against Rigg for 15 yards and a hold by Austin Dotson for 10). A 27-yard scramble by Wilson on a third-and-26 attempt got the Cats to within field-goal range, and Chance Poore connected on a 28-yard try as time expired in the half.
The Wildcats defense forced its first three-and-out to open the second half and a career-long punt return of 39 yards by Ali set the offense up at Vanderbilt's 26. A six-play scoring drive ended in a 3-yard run by Rodriguez off a direct snap to make it 31-14, Cats.
Vanderbilt responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive to get back within 10. The Commodores converted three third-down tries along the way but it was a 2-yard fourth-and-goal conversion by Wright that put points on the board.
Kentucky had to punt for the first time late in the third quarter, allowing Colin Goodfellow to make his UK debut with a 41-yard boot to the Vandy 17 (starting punter Max Duffy was not available on Saturday). The Cats defense held firm for the first time since the first quarter its next time out, a sack by Josh Paschal and Jamar "Boogie" Watson forcing a Vanderbilt punt from just past midfield.
An 11-yard rush by Wilson to open UK's next possession nearly spelled disaster after a fumble, but it was recovered by Rigg at UK's 22-yard line. Any hope Vandy had for another cough-up was short-lived; Rodriguez went to the end zone on a career-high 74-yard run on the Cats' next play to extend the lead back to 17.
UK's defense forced a three and out to follow up that score. True freshman quarterback Beau Allen made his debut on the next offensive trip; he was 3 for 5 for 40 yards but Kentucky stalled out at Vandy's 47. The Commodores made the most of the subsequent possession, traveling 80 yards for their longest scoring drive of the season to pull back within 10 points with 3:13 to play.
Joey Gatewood entered at quarterback on UK's next drive and the Cats punted again, affording Vanderbilt another 78-yard touchdown drive that took only 59 seconds. The Commodores attempted an onside kick with 30 seconds to play but could not recover.
